The Bark or the Bite
by Invader Snik
Summary: An average day in Danville turns to chaos when hordes of the undead swarm its streets. With the help of a mysterious stranger, a wanderer named Moon, can they defeat the zombies and restore order to Danville? (one-shot)


The day was dark and the clouds hung heavy over the sky. She knew it would rain and that rain was much needed. She was on the run and she wasn't about to stop and let them catch up. The rain would throw them off track, she knew, like the tyrannosaurus from _Jurassic Park_. If the sun had been out she wouldn't have risked traversing the suburbs, but with the rain she saw an opportunity to go in and scavenge. With a relieved grin, she headed down the valley into Danville to go and load up. She kept her knife on her belt, its tiger's-eye hilt glinting a little in the dull light. She knew she would need it, since the dead were sure to show up here. Although Danville wasn't the biggest city around here (the Tri-State Area was famous for its mix of metropolises and lax suburbs) it was treated as such; the same rules applied regarding the dispatch of the dead.

The outbreak had unfolded that morning. The city had been officially evacuated but she knew this meant it wasn't empty. Far from it, in fact. The dead had not yet had time to wander outside of its limits, which meant that they would be concentrated here, within the tight buildings of downtown. She knew it wouldn't be quite as bad in the more urban areas, but she would have to be careful as she headed from one neighborhood to the next, aimed for the business end of town.

There was a sudden footstep behind her and she whirled around, her left hand instantly holding the dagger she used for combat.

It wasn't one of the dead. It was just a boy that stood unblinking in front of her. She eyed him warily. She'd heard tell of people during outbreaks who were lured in by small children asking for help, then mauled and looted for supplies. Since he was alone and had barely made a sound she guessed that was his purpose. She turned, the dagger still in her hand, and kept walking.

The boy persisted, grabbing her wrist with one hand and holding her back. Without a word he said it all: _please help my step-brother. He's hurt..._

Despite her better judgment, she finally gave the slightest nod and allowed him to lead her throughout the streets until they came to the last house on the block. It was better defended than most but still hardly reliable-far too hastily constructed-and the boy led her over to the back door of the garage. He unlocked the door and opened it, then pulled her inside as he quickly locked it again behind him.

The garage was more heavily fortified than the rest of the house. That was evident. Several 2x4s had been nailed to the garage door and there were several more over the window. Since the power had gone out this morning it was dark save for the few light rays that peeked through the window. One of the rays fell on a huddled blanket that shivered occasionally. The boy pulled her over to it and pointed.

She had a feeling he didn't talk much.

Smart lad.

She turned to the other one, huddled under the blanket. She could see one of his arms had swollen around a deep nasty gash. She knew the warning signs of a bite and was immediately suspicious. She turned back to the other boy. "Is it-?"

The boy shook his head, and then pointed to the garage door. Nearly half of it had been blown open, leaving little more than scraps of twisted metal in its place. One of the pieces of mangled steel was dripping with relatively fresh blood, making a periodic _plink, plink_ on the floor. So the boy's wound wasn't a bite. Perhaps she could help.

The injured boy's eyes opened a sliver and he reached with his good arm toward his step-brother. "F-ferb..."

The step-brother (whose name, she assumed, was Ferb) took his hand in both of his own and nodded.

"Ferb," the boy's voice was more urgent now, and he looked up at him with desperate eyes, "They-they're coming-" he suddenly went into a coughing fit that sent droplets of dark blood in a starry pattern on the garage floor.

Ferb slowly backed away and gave her a desperate yet trusting look.

She knew what she had to do. A piece of scrap metal about the size of her fist had been lodged in the boy's arm and it had to come out. She knelt down and held his arm still under her knee, taking a hold on the tip of the metal with one hand. She turned briefly, and the boy's eyes met with her own. In them she saw uncertainty and fear, and he shrank back a little further under the blanket, still shivering. He whimpered quietly.

She did feel for him, but she also knew this had to be done. She turned back to the scrap metal in his arm and took a deep breath. She grabbed its edge in one hand and then ripped it out with a bloody squirt.

The boy screamed, his hands tightening into fists as tears of pain formed in his eyes. He yanked his arm back, as a wounded animal pulls away from a predator, but she held it still under her knee and it wouldn't budge. Quickly she turned to Ferb. "There's a roll of bandages in that front pocket," she pointed vaguely to the pocket in question, one hand still holding the injured boy's arm down.

Ferb quickly unzipped the pocket of her backpack, picking out the bandages and tossing them to her. She snatched them out of the air and tore off the plastic packaging with her teeth, discarding it and wrapping the bandages several times around the boy's injury. She neatly tucked the end of it underneath so it would stay, and then let him go, taking a step back and watching him.

The boy immediately pulled his arm in, under the blanket, and was gone. After a minute he peeked carefully out, and his fearful eyes darted between her and Ferb. His voice was quiet and broken as he finally spoke. "Wh-who...who are you?"

"M'name's Moon," she told him, "Your brother came for me."

The boy only stared for a moment, and then slowly emerged a little from under the blanket. "I-I'm Phineas," he whispered, "And-and that's my step-brother, Ferb."

Moon glanced over at Ferb, who had backed away from her and Phineas, apparently preferring to stay in the corner and watch. He had a blank look on his face, and Moon got the impression that he was like that a lot. He came forward, closer to his step-brother, and sat next to him. He didn't speak, but Phineas seemed to understand his thoughts. He gave Ferb an appreciative look, and then nodded.

Suddenly, the garage went dark for a split second and then was once again dimly lit. Moon's eyes quickly traced the window and she knew something (or perhaps several somethings, she thought) had just passed by outside. She shot both Phineas and Ferb a glance to keep quiet and silently slinked up to the window.

At least six of the dead had shambled into the street and they were all headed toward the house. Moon could see that they were fresh and she supposed that they were victims of earlier this morning. Yet something about them seemed...off. Were they a new breed of zombie? Moon wasn't sure, but she knew she would have to be more careful than usual around them.

"Wh-what is it?" Phineas whispered, his eyes wide.

"Six of them," Moon whispered back, keeping her eyes on the narrow opening of the window, "But there's probably more on their way."

"Six-?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, one hand instinctively sliding down to the dagger on her belt. If she took them a few at a time, she knew she could handle them. She headed quickly to the back door of the garage, unlocking it with a quick twist of her fingers.

"Hey, wait," Phineas protested, "What-what're you doing? you can't kill these people-"

"They're not people anymore, boy," was all she said before opening the door and heading out into the grass of the yard. She could count eight adversaries from here and she knew there were at least three more around the side of the house. She adjusted the grip on her dagger and took a deep breath. _Okay, Moon, let's do this_. With a practiced hand she went through them, her kills clean and quick. After the ones she'd seen had fallen she scanned the area for any that had hidden. None were there so she slinked back to the garage, locking the door again behind her. Although she'd just taken out almost a dozen of them, she knew more would soon come. If the house had been better defended, she might have been more at ease, but as it was she knew the dead would get in here, sooner or later. She only hoped she wouldn't be around when they came.

Phineas stared at her. He seemed to be in a state of shock. "You-you just-" he stammered blankly.

"It had to be done," Moon told him. She glanced down at herself and then added, "Sorry f'r all the blood, though, I guess..."

Phineas just sat, dazed, on the floor. Moon supposed it was because he wasn't used to seeing so much blood on a person. Ferb, on the other hand, was taking this well-at least he seemed to be. Since he kept to himself it was impossible to tell for sure.

Moon took a seat near a toolbox (which she assumed to be their father's) and leaned her head back. She sighed. "You boys haven't been through a full outbreak yet, I suppose. You seem new to this."

"N-new?" Phineas had found his tongue and now spoke with a short voice. "You've been through this before?"

Moon nodded. "Yeah," she told them quietly.

"And-and you just kill these people?" Phineas's voice cracked and his expression read morbid disbelief.

"You think those monsters out there are still people?" Moon asked him. She gave him a somewhat amused look and cracked a tiny half-smirk. "Take a look around. The breath of this town's all but left us."

"They can't all be gone," Phineas protested, "I mean-"

"They're all gone, boy. Only thing left here's the dead. I've seen this kind of thing before. I had my first run-in with the dead when I was five. That's what got me into this kind of thing in the first place."

"Oh..." Phineas trailed off looking a little sheepish.

"That's okay," Moon just shrugged. She glanced over at him, and changed the topic with: "I bet this used to be a nice town," she glanced out the window at the abandoned streets. Almost cliche, a newspaper rustled across the road before settling over the gutter.

"It was," Phineas told her, and then sighed. "I wish we could get that generator back up and running. Then maybe we could get the power grid back up."

Moon snorted. "You know that can't happen. Nothin calls zombies like a generator."

"Zombies?" Phineas asked, a little concerned, "What is this, a Romero movie?"

The boy's flippancy was aggravating. Moon shot him a carefully reserved yet annoyed look. "You know all about this now, then?"

Phineas chose his next words carefully. After staring at the floor for a few moments he looked up at Moon. "Well, yeah," he sighed and then shrugged, giving her an apologetic look. "We kind of raised them this morning..."

"You...you what?" Phineas's words took a minute to get through Moon's mind but they did sink in. She gave Phineas a narrow-eyed glance.

"Well, it was on acc-"

"_You created these?_" suddenly she rounded on him, a growl forming in her throat as she pounced on him. "You accuse _me_ of slaughtering the dead when _you_ bring them to life! Do you not see what you have done?"

"I didn't-"

I stopped his words with a hand over his windpipe and slammed him into the back wall of the garage, making him cringe as he hit it. "You raise these demons from the grave, destroy _your own_ town, massacre all these people! You send for me, ask for my help, and then expect me to clean up the mess _you_ brought on yourself! You bring _my_ life into _your_ hands with your ignorant deeds-did you not see this would come? Did you think the dead would heed you? Dance for you? Your ignorance will spell your death, and possibly your brother's, too-I don't see any reason not to throw you out to your ghouls and let them devour you like the vermin you are!"

"_Put him down_," she turned to see Ferb with a furious glare and crossed arms. "Fighting amongst ourselves will get us nowhere."

The fire in Moon froze over as she realized he was right. She'd taken his position before, in times past-how ironic she'd forgotten her own words. "You're right," was all she said. She dropped Phineas and returned to her place next to the toolbox.

Phineas collapsed onto the ground and went into a coughing fit. Ferb helped him up and they both went to the back of the garage. Ferb gave Moon a sour and distrusting look.

"I'm sorry," Moon looked over at Phineas, and her eyes told him that she really _was_ sorry. Her eyes then shifted down to the floor and she added, "I should know better than that."

Phineas seemed about to say something more, but there was a sudden pounding on the back door that made them all jump. Moon knew it was the dead. Although she'd slain some already the town was full of them, and she could hear the signature zombie groan from outside-and that meant they were calling the others. If nothing was done they would accumulate and overrun the garage, and Moon couldn't let that happen-at least, not while she was still inside. The two boys might have to fend for themselves-they didn't seem like they really knew what they were doing, and Phineas _had_ said that he'd called the dead into town in the first place. She saw it fit that they would die at their own hand.

Phineas glanced uncertainly at Moon. "D'you think we should open it?"

"No," she shook her head, "The dead know we're here. They want in."

The pounding on the door became faster, and over it was a high-pitched squealing voice. "Hello? Phineas? Open up! Hello? Anyone, _please!_"

Moon's eyes widened as she realized that this in fact was not the dead. She scrambled quickly to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to find a girl with a bright pink bow on top of her head. When she saw Moon she squeaked, her hands flying up to her mouth as she jumped back. In a trembling voice she asked, "We-where's Phineas? What-what did you do to him?"

"Isabella!" Phineas exclaimed, "Moon, let her in!"

Without a word Moon stepped back, allowing the girl called Isabella inside, and locked the door behind her.

"Phineas!" she squealed, "I'm so glad you're alive! Who's this? Why is she covered in blood?"

"That's Moon," Phineas told her. He held up his bandaged arm and added, "She fixed my arm and then tried to kill me."

"What?" Isabella shrieked, turning angrily to Moon. "You freak! Why would you do that?"

"He called the dead here," Moon stated, as if that would justify what she had done.

Phineas gave Moon a somewhat irked look. "Well, it wasn't on purpose. And if I can get the generator back up I can help, I swear!"

Moon frowned uncertainly. She didn't trust him, but she did see a chance to get out of there and leave the zombies behind. She couldn't take these kids with her, even supposing she'd wanted to-their inexperience would be more than what she could make up for and they'd all be caught and devoured by the hungry dead waiting outside. For now she turned to Phineas and asked, "How long after the power comes back up?"

"I don't know, ten minutes, maybe," Phineas sighed and his eyes went down to his bandaged arm. "If I could work with both hands it'd go faster, but ten minutes should be okay, right?"

"Look," Moon said, "I don't particularly like you and I think that's mutual. But unless I can get out of here we'll all be stuck together. So I'll tell you what. I can help on one condition: soon as you get that generator up I'm outta here. Deal?"

"Deal," Phineas nodded, "Let's go."

Isabella, who had been listening to the both of them, took a step forward. "Phineas, I don't think this is such a good idea. I mean, this scary chick tried to kill you. You really think we can trust her?"

"Well there aren't really very many options right now anyhow," Phineas shrugged, "And we do need that generator up and running..."

Isabella seemed to remain indecisive for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay, Phineas," she said, "But be careful around her."

"Okay, Isabella," Phineas nodded, and then turned back to Moon.

Moon unlocked the door at the back of the garage and slowly opened it, keeping her eyes sharp for the dead that were after them. She could see three of them on the other side of the fence, and they quickly spotted her as well. Almost in unison they turned to her and moaned, their eyes locking on her in a ravenous hunger. Quickly she darted across the yard to slaughter them, before they could call others to congregate here. As she finished the third one off she turned back to see Phineas opening the top panel of the generator to see if it was still operational. He began tweaking its inner-workings as Moon stood and watched. She could see the look of concentration in his eyes, and she knew not to disturb him. Although he only had one good hand he worked quickly, and within a minute or so he was done. He closed the panel on the side of the generator, but no sooner had he done so than he was grabbed from behind by two more of the dead, with half-rotten arms and sharp bony fingers.

Phineas screamed, thrashing wildly but unable to free himself. "No! Get off me!"

Moon jumped on first one zombie and then the other, pulling them away from Phineas before they had a chance to deliver their deadly bites. She used the hilt of her knife as a ram, smashing in the tops of their skulls so they could no longer function. After a moment she turned back to Phineas. "You okay?"

Phineas was shaking a little, his eyes wide, but then he nodded. "Yeah."

"Great," she replied, "Now I'm outta here."

"Okay," he nodded, darting quickly back into the garage and closing the door behind him. After that it was silent from inside.

Moon turned and headed quickly back toward downtown, where she'd been headed originally. Within a few minutes she was in the midst of the skyscrapers, keeping alert for any undead that lurked here. She could hear a distant roar from the neighborhood, and she supposed that those kids and gotten their parents' car started and were planning to head out of town. Since the streets around here were empty they wouldn't have a problem until they got to the highway. She'd seen that on her way into town and it hadn't been pretty.

But that was okay. Those kids weren't her problem anymore.

She rounded a corner into a back alley between two major storefronts, heading first into one and then the other for any supplies they would provide her. She filled up her backpack with several things she knew she'd find useful, and then started heading back out into the wilderness. She rounded a corner and then froze.

At least fifteen of the dead had crowded around a fresh kill. The carcass had been picked clean and their empty eyes settled on her as their next meal. One of them dropped whatever small scrap of flesh it had been holding.

She knew she couldn't win this fight so she turned to run. She could see a broken fire escape hanging from the building and she jumped up and caught it, quickly scaling the side of the building. She knew the zombies were unable to come up after her but even so she didn't pause till she reached the roof. She peeked over the side and saw that the zombies were clawing hungrily after her but grounded on the sidewalk below. Instead they just groped blindly for the sky.

A sudden shadow fell over Moon, and she looked up to see what could only be described as a monster truck blimp floating over the tops of the buildings. It hovered a minute before landing on its twelve-foot tires, one of the doors on the side opening up as Phineas poked his head out. "Hey, Moon," he said, "Need a lift?"

She didn't answer-she couldn't help but stare at it. This had to be the most insane thing she'd seen in years-a near-perfect mix of Grave Digger and Hindenburg standing about twenty feet tall and twice as wide. It seemed to defy the laws of physics, but...she couldn't quite tell which laws it defied. It was very weird.

"Moon, you coming or not?" Phineas asked, leaning out of the cab of the truck and offering his hand.

After a moment Moon took it and came up into the truck-blimp. She still could not believe this was happening. Finally she found her voice and asked, "Where did you get this?"

"Ferb and I made it," Phineas replied, "You like it?"

"You...made this?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Right, Ferb?"

Ferb, who had been driving, turned around and nodded.

"Right," she said with a skeptical look, "And I bet it's got a free vending machine in it too?"

"Well," Phineas conceded, "Kinda. I mean for now we just have it loaded with Twizzlers, but we're thinking of expanding it to full vending-machine status."

"Right..." was all she said.

"What, you wanna see?" Phineas leaned over and pushed a button on the dashboard. A side panel opened up and a very shiny new vending machine, indeed loaded with Twizzlers, presented itself.

"I told you she wouldn't believe you," Isabella told Phineas, her arms crossed. After a minute her eyes settled on Moon, and she gave her a slightly demeaning look.

"Hey, come and check this out," Phineas said from over by the window. The truck-blimp had been hovering over the edge of a cliff and the noise from it had drawn the dead to it. Mindless, they'd fallen to the grounds far below and the coming swarm, heedless of their predecessors, would fall as well. It was...beautiful to watch.

After some time had passed the steady march of the dead had stopped. Phineas turned to Moon and asked, "You live around here? We can drop you off before we head home."

"I meant to ask...how did you call the dead by accident...?" it had crossed her mind that Phineas had done it completely on purpose (she was nearly certain of it, in fact) but since the ghouls had been taken care of she was beginning to loosen up to her more normal (if that's even close to the right word) self.

"Well..." Phineas started, "Me and Ferb were building a machine that would bring teddy bears to life. We had it finished but somehow the aim was a bit off and it hit the cemetery down the block instead...oops."

"Some 'oops.'"

"Yeah...hey, we're sinking," Phineas noted, "Ferb, you got any more gas?"

Ferb turned and shook his head.

"Well, guess that's it, then," Phineas opened the side door and hopped out onto the cliffside. "C'mon, guys."

The rest of them all followed him and watched the truck-blimp sink lower until it stalled completely and fell down to join the dead it had lured.

"So...you're just going to leave it there...?" Moon asked, frowning a little.

"Well, we don't have anywhere to keep it," Phineas shrugged, "Come on. We better get home before my parents and Candace get back."

"Yeah," Isabella agreed.

Moon watched the three of them go off back into town. She knew those two boys were crazy. They had to be. But you know what?

She had nothin against crazy. The world could use it.

Maybe she could stay here in Danville for a while after all.


End file.
